When it comes to choosing interior materials for the aerospace and aviation industries, you need fire-retardant materials that provide the highest levels of fire safety, noise reduction and anti-static control. While in the air, passengers and crew should be comfortable, but more importantly, safe.

There are five key safety considerations you should take into account when choosing from the best fire protection materials on the market.

1. Regulatory Compliance

Fire-retardant materials, for both primary and supplementary coatings of carpets, carpet backings and seat fabrics, must comply with all relevant aircraft fire-retardant regulations. At Duracote, our fire-retardant materials are custom developed to meet the growing demands of commercial and regional airlines, business aviation and military aircraft.

2. Risk Assessment

Make sure you assess the risks involved and any potential danger that could arise on your aircraft(s). This should always be done by hired and trained professionals who carry out a detailed examination of your facility, and who can consider the risk-containing factors involved. It’s the job of the employers and the safety professionals to identify any and all kinds of potential physical or environmental hazards associated that employees might be exposed to when on the aircraft.

3. Durability

The focus should always be on providing the best protection to passengers and employees possible. But it’s also important to take full advantage of the lifetime of fire-retardant materials and lower overall replacement costs. There are two main characteristics that can impact the durability and lifespan of fire protection materials, these include:

Fiber blend. What fibers make up the fabric? Blends that incorporate more durable fibers like nylon and aramids give fabrics much more resistance to abrasion. These blends also have a higher tear strength, ultimately providing better and longer-lasting durability.

Fabric construction. Did you know that every single detail of the fabric construction can and will affect the durability of fire-retardant materials? The combination of weave, threads, yarn count and weight of the fabric can all play a role in determining a fabric’s durability.

4. Manufacturer’s Credibility

It takes months, years and sometimes even decades for a company to establish itself as a credible, quality manufacturer. A manufacturer’s credibility is fully dependent on the safety of its products, along with the level of trust it holds with its customers.

That’s why companies like United Airlines, The Boeing Company and the Naval Research Laboratory depend on Duracote. If the airlines and airspace brands you know and trust choose some of the best fire-retardant materials on the market, that should say something about the quality of those materials and the reliability of the manufacturer.

Do your due diligence when determining a company’s credibility. A credible manufacturer should never compromise on safety and consistency.

5. Additional Advantages

When considering the best fire-retardant material, why not get a material that can also offer added benefits?Duracote’s fire retardant products are often developed utilizing new base materials formulated with our proprietary flame-retardant coatings. Additionally, they may be designed to offer noise reduction and anti-static control – all in one lightweight material solution.

Take Fire Safety to the Next Level

Our fire-retardant materials meet and exceed all of these criteria and more. At Duracote, we can create a custom fire protection material for almost any application you need. Contact us today for more information.